With the villa purchase in Ibiza moving ahead, my mind went back to the SolarPlaza Summit I attended on Oct 24th in Madrid last year.
Spain has a pretty ambitious goal: 100% renewable electricity by 2050.
Will it work?
One of the most interesting points I got out of it was this. Renewable energy, if done well, can lead to a greater standard of living. More energy at lower cost means: more AC at home in summer, more heating at home in winter, and the chance for incredible innovations like charging your own car.
Imagine that?
While I love the positivity I do find it funny when the speakers talk about things like “never before in human history” have we been able to get energy for little to no cost.
(Uhh…pretty sure people once rode their own horses which ate…grass?)
Oh and one more thing.
The lanyards were all red!
Anyway. Enough bitching.
Between sorting out the legal paperwork and planning the logistics of the move to Ibiza, I’ve been considering upgrades that will add long-term value.
One idea that kept surfacing? Solar panels.
At the conference I heard about the Spanish government’s plan to allocate €150 million to support energy storage projects. But that’s just a tiny amount compared to the over €37 billion they had received by 2023 to finance solar panel installations.
Sadly…there’s no more grants for me.
It’s hard to find information in English. But I found a blog from a company called “misolar” installing solar panels in Javea in Alicante (cool fact: it’s on mainland Spain, but I can see it from our new house!) which said that the grants ended on Dec 31 2023. There’s still some tax rebates available in the Valencian region of Spain…and there’s still actually a grant for installing a car charger.
Anyway I called this company up.
The owner said he can’t come to Ibiza to install for me. But he was courteous enough and walked me through different options, from grid-tied systems to full off-grid solutions, and suggested I check the local “ayuntamiento” for any potential property tax rebates.
Spain is making a push for renewable energy, and there’s the possibility that more grants and subsidies comes online in the near future.
Anyway.
Beyond the cost savings, the idea of having a more energy-independent villa is pretty cool. With the Ibiza property potentially being a holiday home for guests when I’m not there, a solar setup would cut running costs while hopefully bringing in those 5-star reviews!
Time to look for a local company…
Between my basic Spanish and relentless questions, I pray for the installer to come and quote me!
I’m getting to a point though where green energy is seeming more and more the way to go.
(Just keep from turning into a hippy, please!)